Why floor sticky rollers are my favorite cleaning item in Japan

When it comes to cleaning products I’ve discovered in Japan, I have quite a long list of favorites. I’ve got my preferred brands of dish soap and laundry detergent, an inexpensive grout brush I got from a hundred yen store that works like a charm when cleaning our bathroom, and even a washing machine cleaner that ensures our clothes smell fresh and our machine doesn’t get funky - it’s particularly useful during the ultra-humid summers.

Another cleaning product I’ve come to rely on is my sticky floor roller, a product I’d never seen in my life before I lived in Japan. I’m sure it has some other kind of “official term”, but it’s basically a giant lint roller that you use on floor surfaces instead of on your clothes. There are a few reasons why I think they’re awesome, and this list covers a few of them.

If you have sleeping babies/toddlers, you’re not going to wake them up

Sticky floor rollers came in clutch when my kids were younger. Often, when they were napping, it would be my prime time to get a few chores around the house done – whoever said to sleep when the baby sleeps probably didn’t factor in housework. There was one big problem with that, though: turning on the vacuum cleaner was almost a guarantee to wake my children up in tears. Enter the magic of the all-powerful sticky roller! It gave me the ability to quickly freshen up my floors and collect any dust or crumbs, without making so much as a peep. Sanity saver!

They’re great to clean areas where it’s often difficult to lug a vacuum up

There are certain areas of the house where it’s much easier for me to clean with my sticky roller rather than using the vacuum, and our stairs are one of those spots. I save myself the frustration of awkwardly carrying the vacuum up the steps or finding a power outlet that will allow the cord to stretch all the way it needs to, and it grabs all the dust quickly and easily.

Floor sticky rollers are much more convenient to use than lugging a vacuum up the stairs! 

They’re inexpensive

You can usually find the floor sticky roller refills at hundred yen stores, and some of them even stock the handle attachment you’ll need. Otherwise, they also sell them on Amazon Japan. They’re not expensive at all.

They work really well on different types of flooring

In our house we have several flooring types, including floorboards, tile, tatami, and even carpeted rugs in some rooms. These sticky rollers have proven their worth on various different surfaces, and I find that they do especially well on tatami – perhaps that’s why they’re such a popular cleaning item here. Needless to say, I highly recommend them – they help me in keeping the house clean and tidy with a minimum of fuss.

There's something oddly satisfying about seeing how much it can pick up

My hair sheds like crazy, I have two young kids who manage to make crumbs like it's their job, and I also have a dog. Plus there's the dust and grime that just comes with day-to-day living. It's oddly satisfying seeing how much crud these things pick up, and knowing it's no longer on your floor.

Have you discovered floor sticky rollers here? What are your holy grail items for keeping your floors clean here in Japan?